


i think i'd do it for love (if it were not for the money)

by CallicoKitten



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Multi, OR IS IT, Past Abuse, Pining, Poe needs a break, Polyamory, Rescue Missions, Secret Relationship, Slow Burn, Smut, Unrequited Love, Way Less Cracky Then This Probably Should Be, how are we going to get there, we just dont know friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-03-11
Packaged: 2019-03-02 21:38:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13326879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallicoKitten/pseuds/CallicoKitten
Summary: “I wish,” The Codebreaker says, slowly. Carefully. Coyly. “To stage a rescue mission.”Poe’s brow furrows. Beside him, Finn’s expression goes blank.-in which dj enlists the help of the resistance to "rescue" a certain someone from the first order and poe seriously reconsiders his life choices





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> listen, if you’d told me a few months ago I’d walk out of tlj still ignoring the wonderful poly ships it’s given me and with a hard on for shipping hux with just about everyone I’d have shrugged and been like yeah, seems about right
> 
> um, so here’s this for a ship I certainly didn’t need/want/ask for but what r u gonna do
> 
> i could wait for the actual dj backstory but idk guys
> 
> i'm making no promises about how often this fic will update, i'll aim for once a week though

“I really think we should just shoot him,” Finn says. He’s huddled up close to Poe, voice kept low. He crosses his arms. As he does so, he brushes against Poe accidentally. “Look, I’ll even do it for you. If General Organa gets mad we can just say _oops Finn accidentally pulled the trigger, no more asshole Codebreaker._ ”

Poe crosses his arms too. “You want to tell the leader of the Resistance that you, a man who has literally been raised since childhood to shoot things, can’t operate a gun correctly?”

Finn considers this. “Well, when you put it like that.”

Poe shrugs. “Maybe we should just hear him out.”

“ _Hear him out_? Last time we _heard him out_ and he betrayed us and got a lot of good people killed!” Finn snaps. Then his eyes widen and he says, “Oh, I know! _Rose!_ Rose can shoot him.”

“Rose can barely _walk._ ” Poe points out.

“Oh, she’d walk for this Poe, trust me. She’d _run_. And you know what? General Organa probably wouldn’t even be that mad.”

Poe sighs, covers his eyes with one of his hands.

“Maybe we should ask someone more qualified,” Finn suggests.

Poe looks up at him, “Are you saying I’m not qualified?”

BB8 stares between them.

Finn raises his hands, placating. “You are _very_ qualified. I’m just saying, this is a big decision. Maybe we should just – ” he trails off, frowning at the ceiling of all places. “Wait. Do you think General Organa knows everything that’s happening right now? Like through the Force?”

Poe opens his mouth to say that’s not how the Force works but realises that actually, he has no idea how the Force works. Maybe Leia _can_ see everything that’s happening. Maybe she’s sat there, laughing her ass off with Connix or someone. Poe closes his mouth.

“We should ask Rey,” Finn decides.

“Later,” Poe agrees. “But for now, I say we hear him out and if we don’t like what he says we ask General Organa.”

“And then we shoot him,” Finn finishes for him.

“You know what sure,” Poe says. “Sure. If General Organa okays it. BB8, wait out here.”

Finn looks satisfied and follows Poe back down the corridor of their new base to their interrogation room.

They’ve cuffed the Codebreaker to the table. He didn’t so much as _break_ into their new base as he entered in the passcode, walked across the hangar and through the Operations Centre to the barracks to knock politely on Finn’s door.

Thankfully, Finn in turn knocked on Poe’s door before deciding to just shoot him.

He smiles when Poe and Finn re-enter the room, holds up his cuffed wrist. “Really, gentlemen, this is wholly unnecessary. As I said before, I come in peace.”

“Yeah, well you’ll forgive us if we don’t automatically believe you,” Poe says. He shuts the door behind them, pauses before locking it.

“You’ve got about five minutes before we shoot you,” Finn says. “So talk.”

The Codebreaker raises his eyebrows, adopts an expression of mock offence. “Such a chilly welcome,” he says quietly, looking away from the two of them to stare briefly, forlornly, at the table in front of him. After a moment he looks back up at them, something Poe’s not entirely comfortable with glinting in his bruised eyes.

“I wish,” he says, slowly. Carefully. _Coyly_. “To stage a rescue mission.”

Poe’s brow furrows. Beside him, Finn’s expression goes blank. He looks to Poe, who looks back at him before turning back to the Codebreaker.

“A rescue mission,” Poe echoes, searching the Codebreaker’s face for some hint, any hint of where this is going.

“Yes,” the Codebreaker says. “Th-Th-There is someone that I have – however regrettably – come to _care_ for amongst the First Order.” He says it with a curl of his lip, a twinge of annoyance like his attachment is something that pains him, that’s more of a burden. "I believe they are no longer with them of their own freewill and as you are no doubt aware, it can be rather tricky to leave of one's own accord."

Poe’s opening his mouth to ask about that when Finn interrupts. “Why don’t you just ask them?” he snaps. “You seemed pretty buddy-buddy with them last time.”

The Codebreaker looks slightly disappointed at that, sighs at Finn, shakes his head. “I told you. Th-th-that was nothing personal. It was simply good business. Besides, I had d-d-done what I promised to – had I not? I got you onto the d-dreadnought, I helped you disable the tracking device. You had made no promises to me about my safety following the mission so I did what I felt was best.”

“You sold us _out_ ,” Finn snaps, taking a step forwards. "You gave away our plan."

Poe puts a hand on his chest to hold him back. “A lotta good people died because of you,” he says.

“And for that, I am sorry,” The Codebreaker says and if Poe didn’t already know what a lying sack of shit the man was, he might be sold on the pained expression the man adopts. “But how was I to know that – ”

“Save it,” Poe interrupts. “No one’s buying your _poor me_ act so tell us what you really want and why you think we should help you or we’ll hand you over to General Organa. And let me tell you, she’s a whole lot less nice than I am.”

The faux-sweetness drops from the Codebreaker’s expression. It’s replaced with something akin to annoyance. “Fine. There is someone I wish to rescue from the First Order. It will be difficult, I will need help. In return, you will gain access to the Finalizer to do whatever you wish. Hack their systems, plant your own tracking device, blow the damn thing up, I do not care. Win your war.”

“The Finalizer?” Poe repeats. “General Hux’s ship?”

The Codebreaker smiles. “The very same.”

Poe’s still studying his face, still trying to find something genuine underneath the stubble and grime and dark smudges beneath the Codebreaker’s eyes. He’s still got one of his hands on Finn - shifted from his chest to curl around his arm – he can feel Finn getting restless. “Alright,” Poe says, evenly. “Let me just talk this over with my buddy here outside.”

“So we’re shooting him, right?” Finn says, as soon the doors shut behind them.

Poe sighs, leans against the wall. “I dunno.”

“I mean, there’s no way he’s genuine. No way,” Finn’s saying. “And even if he is, if we help him he’ll probably just sell us out and escape with whoever he’s rescuing. Which – I don’t know – can you imagine a guy like that willing to march on to _the Finalizer_ to rescue someone?”

“I mean, he did kind of rescue you guys,” Poe says, thoughtfully.

Finn stumbles to a halt. “Well, yeah but that was different. That was _different._ BB8 probably made him. He must be getting paid, or something.”

Poe hums noncommittally.

“But anyway – ” Finn starts but Poe interrupts him.

“I think we should just let Leia decide,” he says and Finn looks disappointed for a split second before he nods.

“Okay,” Poe says, with a small smile. “I’ll go tell the General.”

“And I’ll go tell Rose,” Finn says, he turns before Poe can say anything further, heading towards the medbay. Once he’s safely out of sight Poe kneels down beside BB8. “Guard the door, okay, bud? I don’t _think_ Finn will come back and shoot him but it _really_ sounds like he wants to so just in case.”

-

Poe finds Leia in the war room with Rey. They’ve gravitated towards each other since Crait, since Luke. Leia doesn’t ask much about her brother, about the scant days Rey spent with him but she finds comfort in Rey, Poe thinks, in that tenuous connection.

Leia listens to what Poe has to say with an expression of mild bemusement from her chair. Rey is sitting close to her, perched on the edge of the table with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her arms are wrapped around them, her chin resting on them, head tilted slightly to the side.

“Well,” Leia says when he’s done. “That sounds like quite the tale.”

Poe rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah. That’s why – uh, we thought we’d see what you thought.”

Leia’s smile is fond and amused. “And I thank you for that. It’s always nice to be kept in the loop by your own people, after all.”

“That’s not what I – ” Poe starts but Leia cuts him off.

“I know, Dameron, I know. So what do you think?”

Poe exhales. “I don’t know. I mean, it was a risk for him to come here, right? Whatever it is he really wants it must be worth risking his neck.”

Leia hums.

“Did anyone manage to find anything on him?” Poe asks.

“Not much,” Leia answers. “Other than he calls himself ‘Don’t Join.’ He’s a slicer, Poe. They’re kinda hard to keep track of.” She stands then, “I think I’ll have a word with him myself. See if I can figure out his angle here.”

Rey sits up at that. “Do you want me to come in too?”

Leia laughs. “I think I’ll be alright, kid. I’ve had my fair share of experiences with his sort.”

Rey slumps down, dejected. When Leia’s gone, she slides off the table and nudges Poe’s shoulder with hers. “Wanna go eat?”

Poe shrugs. “Sure.”

-

Finn and Rose are already in the mess hall when they get there, sat at the table closest the medbay and wrapped up in each other. Rose is out of danger now, out of the bulky bacta suits she’d been forced into but she’s still a little delicate, still confined to medbay except for short walks and meal times. Finn has designated himself her caretaker, attends to her every need, blushes when his hand brushes hers. They dance around each other, Poe’s noticed. Like neither one wants to say what Rose has already admitted to.

He watches as Finn says something that makes Rose laugh. She tilts her head back as she shakes and Finn leans almost imperceptibly forward, closer towards her, chin propped up on one hand as he grins. After Crait, when Rose was out of danger, Finn had come to him, eyes wide, _she said she loved me,_ he’d said, voice shaky, thin with disbelief and his hands had been shaking like he had no idea what to do with this new, tender thing he’d been gifted. _Well, more **implied** but - _

Poe had fought hard to keep the ache in his chest from growing, to tamp it back down, pile things like _duty_ and _honour_ and _friendship_ on top to smother it out. “That’s great, buddy!” he’d said. Finn had been searching his face up until that moment but when Poe spoke he’d broken into a grin.

“Yeah. It is isn’t it?” Finn had said. “It is.”

“I wanted to hate her,” Rey says now, standing beside Poe at the opposite side of the room. Poe looks at her, staring blankly across at Finn and Rose. She doesn’t look sad or angry, doesn’t look anything really. She’s used to it, Poe thinks. Growing up on Jakku, scavenging to make her way, always wanting, never having.

She blinks, looks away from them. Looks at Poe instead and smiles, sad and lovely under the artificial lights. “That’s awful, isn’t it? I mean, she’s so nice and – ” she trails off, looking to Poe for approval or validation or something in between.

They’re kids, Poe thinks, like he thinks a lot these days. Just kids. All of them. Except they’re not, not really and maybe they were never, certainly not in the way Poe was, running through the forests of Yavin 4 and learning to fly from the safety of his mother’s lap. Hell, when Poe was their age he was already a pilot, had seen his fair share of combat but he still lived in a world he thought was mostly alright. He still lived in a world that wasn’t tearing itself apart.

“I know what you mean,” he says and it’s true in a fashion. Poe nudges Rey’s shoulder with his. “Wanna sit with them?”

Rey looks back to them for a moment before shaking her head.

“Okay,” Poe says and once they’ve got their food he walks them out to the hangar and they sit shoulder to shoulder on top of the _Falcon_ to eat. They don’t speak, they don’t really need to.

Rey has one leg tucked under her body, the other swinging free. She still takes double the average portion, still wolfs down her food like someone will snatch it away from her at any given moment but she’s learning, little by little. She’s chewing slower, savouring the little cakes and treats sometimes on offer, finding she can’t stuff everything she’s piled onto her plate in.

When Poe’s done eating he sighs, flops down against the _Falcon_ and tucks his hands behind his head. There’s a huge hole in the hangar ceiling, no one’s really sure what happened. It was there when they arrived, another old rebel base, mercifully undiscovered and abandoned, plants peaking through the cracked foundations. It’s always twilight on this planet, dimly lit and pleasantly cool.

“What do you think Leia will do to him?” Rey asks, after a few moments.

Poe stretches and shrugs. “I have no idea. Can’t you find out through the Force, or whatever?”

Rey smiles, shakes her head. “No. It doesn’t work like that.” Then she frowns, “I think, anyway. Luke wasn’t – ” she breaks off with a sigh. “He didn’t really get a chance to teach me much, so.”

Poe sits up to rest a comforting hand on her shoulder. _It’ll be alright,_ he wants to say and, _we’ll make sure Luke didn’t die for nothing,_ and, _we’ll get ‘em Rey, we’ll get ‘em_ because those are all things he believes, those are all things he knows but he’s said them before and Rey’s always reacted the same way. Little half smile, blinking hard, mouth twitching. She says _yes, of course_ without much conviction because after everything there’s still part of her that doubts herself and no matter what Poe says, he can’t snuff that out.

So instead they sit, Poe’s hand on her shoulder and wait for Leia to call them.

-

It’s the next morning by the time Leia summons him and Poe’s spent a restless night tossing and turning on some decades old scratchy cot from dreams where he’s following the Codebreaker through Crait’s maze of tunnels. _They’re here,_ the man insists. _Follow me, I’ll take you to them_ and Poe stumbles after him, not really sure who he’s trying to find.

He pushes into the war room, bleary eyed and slightly rumpled, finds Leia and Rey inside with the Codebreaker, uncuffed and lounging in chair. He has one grubby boot up pushed up against the table, his chair tipped back, rocking gently. BB8 is sat beside him. “Good morning, Commander,” he says. “You look like you slept well.”

Poe ignores him, looks to Leia instead.

“I’ve decided we’re going to assist him,” Leia says, and her mouth is slightly quirked upwards, her dark eyes light with some joke she’s not ready to let the rest of them in on. “We have come to an agreement.”

Rey’s arms are folded across her chest, her jaw is tight. Obviously, she’s not pleased.

Poe inclines his head. “You sure, General?”

Leia smiles. “I’m sure, Commander. You will assist this man with his rescue mission, you can take Finn and BB8 with you. Rey will be staying here.”

Rey jaw tightens at this, her grip on her own arms does too but she holds her tongue. Poe’s gaze slides back to Leia, waiting for her to continue.

“In exchange for our assistance, DJ here has agreed to put together a bug for us. It will act as a tracking device, transmitting every order, every movement and every schematic the Finalizer has within it’s database.”

Poe looks at the Codebreaker. “DJ? Really?”

He looks mildly offended at that. “I d-d-d-do not go around insulting the names your mothers gave you, d-d-do I?”

Poe raises an eyebrow, “Your mother named you DJ?”

DJ spreads his hands. “She was a very interesting woman.”

“And that really isn’t our priority here, boys,” Leia says, smoothly.

“With all due respect, General. Can we really afford to trust a programme put together by him?” Poe asks and beside Leia, Rey unfolds her fingers a little and huffs out a little breath that says, _yes, exactly._

Leia looks at the Codebreaker – DJ – whatever. The Codebreaker looks back at her, gaze steady. “Yes,” Leia says. “Yes, we can.”

-

Later, Poe sits beside Rey in Operations, watching DJ work.

“What do you think Leia has on him?” Poe asks, voice a low whisper. He’s sat on an old workspace, Rey is stood beside him, leant up against it.

She shrugs one shouldered. “She might know who he wants to rescue. She might be playing him. I don’t know.” She huffs, rocks back against the table behind her. “I hate being left behind,” she mutters but they both know why she can’t come, why Leia wants her here in case.

If this goes south, if they get captured and DJ flips on them…

“BB8 seems to trust him okay,” Poe muses.

“BB8 seems to trust _everyone_ ,” Rey says, with a roll of her eyes.

“Nah, he’s more discerning than that,” Poe says, watching BB8 ferry things back and forth to the Codebreaker. He pushes himself off of the table after a moment. “I should go break the bad news to Finn,” he decides.

Rey nods, still staring mistrustfully at DJ. “Tell him I think this is a terrible idea,” she says, when Poe is almost to the door.

Poe smiles. “Will do.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, im really not happy with this chapter but i'm already halfway through writing the next one and it's going much smoother so, you know, the future is bright!

They set DJ up with a room in the old barracks, a large old building separate from the bulk of the complex. It’s mostly used for storage now, unusable as living quarters because half of the roof has collapsed, but there are still a few rooms intact. Poe’s been assigned as his minder while they wait for DJ’s plan to be put in motion.

On the surface of it, DJ’s plan is pretty simple. He’s managed to steal a First Order supply shuttle, pinned down a route. They disguise themselves, fly in, dock, fly out. Piece of cake. It’s stupid to bring Finn, whose face is probably the most recognisable to the First Order, stupid to go himself but Leia’s insisted. Whether it’s to keep them both out of trouble while she pulls something bigger off or whether she honestly trusts Poe and Poe alone with this, he has no idea.

Either way, he hopes she’s got something up her sleeve. It’s suicide to pull this off without a backup plan, to let DJ walkaway with the location of their base. They’ve changed the codes and he’s not allowed anywhere without an escort but still. The man’s a loose cannon. Worse, he’s a loose cannon that can be bought, easily and Poe’s certainly not getting his hopes up about his apparent change of heart.

The day after he arrives, after Leia gives the go ahead, they gather in the Operations Room to talk through the plan. DJ has brought up a 3D holo of the Finalizer to illustrate his points. Poe and Leia stand to his left, Finn, Rey and Rose – who has discharged herself from medbay to be here – are on his right.

“The supply shuttles are only allowed aboard the Finalizer for a very brief amount of time,” DJ says, zooming the holo in on the hangar. “Once we dock, the supplies will be thoroughly inspected and unloaded by stormtroopers. We will have about half an hour to get up to the Officer’s Quarters and back before anyone begins to get suspicious.”

Poe unfolds his arms, eyeing the route up to the Officer’s Quarters from the hangar. “That’s a pretty small window,” he says.

DJ eyes him over the holo, a smirk at the edge of his mouth. “Surely not a challenge for professionals such as yourselves, though?”

“It doesn’t matter how professional we are,” Poe says. “It’s still a small window. Is it even doable?”

DJ rolls his eyes. “If it was not doable would I be suggesting we do it at all?” He types something else in, highlights a room near the hangar. “You see? This is the laundry room. There is a chute in the Officer’s Quarters that connects directly to this and a laundry trolley will provide the perfect opportunity to smuggle the target out. We will have enough time to get up there, you will plant your bug, I will make my rescue and we will use the chute to return to the shuttle.”

“You’ll need passes to get up there,” Finn advises. “Shuttle pilots are only allowed in certain areas of the ship.”

“Taken care of,” DJ says, without missing a beat. “I secured the passes before I even secured the shuttle. Really, you don’t seem to expect much of me.”

“What about after?” Rose asks, eyes hard. “It’s not going to take long for someone to realise you’ve kidnapped a prisoner and a First Order shuttle won’t exactly be subtle.”

“Again, arrangements have been made. There will be ships waiting for us on Jakku. One for you, one for me. We dump the shuttle there and part ways.”

Finn closes his eyes. “Why is it always Jakku?” He mutters.

DJ smiles, spreads his hands looking proud. “You see? Perfectly doable.”

“Except for the part where you double-cross us,” Rose says quietly.

DJ sighs at that, looks to Leia balefully. “Really, you must teach your people not to take things so _personally_ , General.”

Leia gives him a look that could cut through steel and shatter diamond. Under her dark gaze DJ shifts, rolls his shoulders. “It’s kind of hard not to take the deaths of hundreds of their friends personally, slicer. Not everyone can be as blissfully unattached as you.”

DJ smirks again but he falls silent. Leia takes a few steps closer to the holo, considering. “And you can do this with a three-man team?” she asks.

DJ shrugs. “Someone will need to remain with the shuttle.”

“I could do that,” Rose says, leaning forward eagerly. “I could stay with the shuttle while – ”

“No.” Leia says firmly. She doesn’t even look at Rose, doesn’t look away from the holo at all. “You’re not well enough to leave, Miss Tico, no matter what you’ve told medbay.”

Rose jerks back like she’s been slapped, eyes filling with angry tears. Finn sets a hand on her shoulder, squeezes gently. Poe steps forwards, “General,” he starts, voice low. “You could at least – ”

“I don’t expect to have to repeat myself, Commander,” Leia cuts him off.

Poe falls silent, his shoulders slump. He looks to Rose apologetically.

DJ raises his eyebrows.

“Finn can stay with the shuttle,” Leia says. “Commander Dameron will plant the bug. You can show him how?”

DJ nods, “But of course, General.” He makes a great show of bowing, winks at Poe at his head comes up again. Poe’s skin crawls a little.

“Excellent,” Leia says. “Alright. Rey, if you would escort our guest back to his rooms. Commander, a moment?”

DJ bows again as Rey shepherds him out and Rose takes a few steps towards Leia before Finn slips an arm around her shoulders and guides her out too.

“That was kind of harsh,” Poe says, when the doors are shut behind them and he and Leia are alone. “Rose, I mean.”

Leia rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry, Commander, I have a job in mind for Miss Tico.” She’s still examining DJ’s holo, peering at it from different angles like there’s some hidden meaning in the luminous blue lines. She sighs, evidentially troubled and Poe feels a slight pang of relief.

“You think he’s up to something,” he says, taking a step towards the holo himself.

Leia stares at him across the projector. “And you don’t? I wouldn’t trust that man for all the wealth in the galaxy.” She shakes her head, “I’m going to send Rose ahead to Jakku to sweep the getaway ships, maybe have her install some failsafes in case our friend’s target turns out to be someone too important to let walk.”

Poe leans forward at that. “You think they might be?”

Leia’s shrug is one-shouldered. “He’s taking you to the Officer’s Quarters, Commander, you tell me. If his target isn’t an Officer they’re being held there for a reason.” She flicks the holo off with a sigh of frustration. “I’ve got everyone I can spare working on this but we’ve turned nothing up.”

“I’ll see if I can get anything out of him before we leave,” Poe promises and Leia gives him an amused smiled.

“I know you will, Commander. Be careful though, he’s clever, that one.” For a moment, her gaze slips. Her eyes seem unfocused, far away, years ago. It’s brief though and when she looks back at him she’s General Organa again. All business. “We’ll be moving base after you leave. Connix is arranging things. We’ll send you the new co-ordinates when you’ve left Jakku.”

Poe inclines his head.

“Keep an eye on him, Commander,” Leia says, before she dismisses him. “And if it looks like he’s up to anything, let Finn shoot him.”

-

“You look good in all black, Commander,” DJ says, the morning of the mission. He walks in a slow circle around Poe, eyeing him up appraisingly. There’s a playful lilt in his voice.

Poe’s spent most of the last two days stood up against a wall with the slicer, planting practise-bugs in mock systems over and over and over until he can do it as quickly and as deftly as DJ can. He’s got a pretty good idea of what makes the guy tick now, makes it all the less likely DJ’s really out to save someone out of the goodness of his heart. If this is purely selfish they’re rescuing someone DJ likes a whole lot. Not a friend, not someone who owes him something or he owes something to. Someone DJ’s got something messy with, something that runs long and deep and probably involves sleazy bars and sleepless nights.

Of course, it’s far more likely DJ’s in this for the money, someone with deep pockets and a grudge against the First Order.

He gives DJ a grin, just the right amount of charm and filth and says, “Looks like you might have a type, then.”

DJ sets a hand to his heart, mock-gasps. “Guilty as charged, I’m afraid,” he says, winking.

DJ wears black well too, looks far too comfortable in the sharp lines of the First Order uniform. Poe’s skin crawls under the feel of the synthetic fabric, the starched collar and pressed pants. Style over substance.

“Shall we?” DJ asks.

“After you,” Poe answers.

Finn meets them by the shuttle, already dressed and leant up against the ship’s side. It’s a tiny little thing, a small cockpit built for four at max, a storage area, a small bathroom. It’s meant for one thing and one thing only.

Rose has already left, is probably already on Jakku.

“Ready?” Finn asks.

Poe nods, sliding into the pilot’s chair. DJ slides in next to him, Finn takes the passenger seat behind. He sets a hand on the back of Poe’s chair, warm and steady. Poe’s told him all about Leia’s plan for Rose, the base move, the permission to shoot DJ if he steps out of line. He gives Poe a tight nod before the engine rumbles to life beneath them.

“Last chance to turn back,” DJ says, smirking.

“Last chance to tell us the truth,” Poe counters.

DJ huffs. “I am telling you the truth,” he says. Has been saying it since he arrived. Poe can’t immediately hear a lie but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one.

“It’s funny how we don’t just immediately believe you, isn’t it?” Finn says.

DJ glances over his shoulder at him and shakes his head sadly. “It’s very sad that so many of you have such glaring trust issues.”

“I dunno,” Poe says, as they start to take flight. “I think it probably speaks to our _good business_ sense.”

DJ smiles at that, sharp like a knife. “I knew there was a reason I liked you, Commander.”

-

Things start out strong, they reach the Finalizer and dock without any problems. Finn talks to the Stormtroopers that meet them, falls back easily into speech patterns and language of the Order. Poe always finds himself forgetting these days where Finn came from. He’s so bright and brave and kind and determined. He can’t imagine him here, shuffling around in an expressionless white mask, just another gun ready to be shot.

He snags Poe’s sleeve before they step away, “Remember: if you want to just go ahead and shoot him I’ll back you up to Leia.”

Poe smiles. “I’ll be fine, bud. Just make sure we’re all good here.”

Finn eyes DJ uneasily but lets Poe go and steps away. Poe gives him one last smile before heading out of the hangar bay. DJ falls into step easily beside him, “Was he asking you to shoot me again? Because if he was it might be a good idea to at least wait until we’re not on a First Order ship. Things could get messy otherwise.”

“I’ll bear that in mind,” Poe says.

They walk quickly, not quick enough to arouse suspicion but like they’ve got somewhere to be. Poe keeps his hat low over his eyes, tries to avoid looking at anyone too directly. Luckily the corridors and lifts they use are mostly empty, the only others they see are a few scattered groups of stormtroopers who nod vaguely at them and don’t look too closely.

When they reach the Officer’s Quarters, DJ leans his head of the lift before stepping out into the corridor, puts a hand out towards Poe to hold him in place. “We part ways here,” he says. “You know where the panel is. I will meet you in the laundry room.”

Poe nods firmly. “Try not to stab us in the back while you’re out there,” he says.

DJ smiles. “Cute.” And then he’s gone, darting down the hallway to the right with swift steps. Poe doesn’t linger, he makes beeline for the panel, sweat beading between his shoulder blades. He doesn’t notice things like that when he’s flying, doesn’t notice the way the adrenaline makes his hands shake a little, the tightness of his chest, the way his heart hammers. When he’s flying, there’s not time, there’s not space. It’s only afterwards he starts feeling shaky.

Here though, on this quiet deck, with only the hum of the engines and the distant murmur of voices, it’s all he can feel, all he can hear.

His palms are sweaty. He wipes them on his pants before he raises the tool DJ gave him to unlock the wall panel.

Ten minutes. He’s got ten minutes to do this and not be seen.

He breathes out. Breathes in.

He can do this.

He can do this.

-

He makes it to the laundry chute just in time to see DJ smirk at him and jump down himself. Poe gives him a minute before swinging himself in.

The room is empty when he reaches the bottom. It doesn’t mean anything, he tells himself. It doesn’t mean DJ’s double-crossed them. They’ve just got a tight timescale to keep to.

He slows up his pace as he walks out of the laundry room and crosses back to the shuttle. Nods vaguely to a few of the stormtroopers manning it. He can hear voices from within, raised, angry.

“Shuttle 3546B?” A stormtrooper asks as he approaches. “You’re cleared for departure.”

Poe nods his thanks, hopes to all the stars in the galaxy none of them care enough to investigate the raised voices from the shuttle. A few of them are starting to eye it suspiciously so Poe quickens his pace, opens the door and slides into the pilots seat to hiss, “I can hear you two from the _other side_ of the bay, would you quiet down so we don’t all get killed?”

DJ is in the back this time, Finn in the passenger seat. They both fall silent for a moment before Finn hisses, “Have you _seen_ who he’s bought on board?”

“Not just yet, Finn, I’m trying to save our asses,” Poe says back. He waits until they’re safely off the Finalizer before twisting in his seat to peer into the back of the shuttle. He has to look twice. “Oh, shit,” he mumbles.

General Hux is lying in the back of the shuttle. Still, eyes closed.

“Yeah, Poe.” Finn says. “Oh, _shit._ ”

As they jump to hyperspace, DJ stands up to stand protectively over his target. “I have upheld my side of the bargain, gentlemen. I got you into and out of the Finalizer alive. You placed your bug successfully.”

“Kidnapping General Hux was _not_ part of our deal,” Finn shouts.

DJ tilts his head. “I told you there was someone I wished to rescue.”

And Poe says: “I dunno, this could work to our advantage.”

Finn stares at him. “I don’t know if you don’t understand what’s going on here but that is _General Hux._ The First Order have probably already noticed he’s missing and are on their way to kill us as we speak.”

“Oh I wouldn’t worry about that,” DJ says. “We have a good half hour start if the explosives I planted in the General’s rooms go as planned.” He smirks, then eyes them both in turn. “As for your assertion, Commander, I feel it very important to know that if either of you touch him I will be forced to kill you. Which would be very sad. For you, at least.”

Hux is still unmoving, eyes still shut. “Did you drug him?” Poe asks.

DJ glances down at him. “Yes. He would have made a fuss, otherwise.”

“So this isn’t so much of a rescue as it is a kidnapping.” Finn mutters.

DJ shrugs. “I suppose it depends on what side of things you are viewing it from.”

“Okay, whatever they’re paying you – ” Poe starts.

But DJ cuts him off with huff, “I _told_ you I am not being paid.”

“So why are we kidnapping him!?” Finn shouts.

DJ glances down at Hux again, too quickly for Poe to pick up on anything and looks back up at them, saying evenly, “He’s my husband.”

“Your – ?” Finn says.

DJ nods, earnestly.

Finn looks at Poe like this is somehow his fault.

 _Okay,_ Poe thinks. _We can work with this. We’ve just got to get to Jakku._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, i have no idea where this fic is going but thanks for the feedback :)

Poe’s ears are kind of ringing as they leave the Finalizer, he’s already back on the base in his mind, figuring out the best way to get Hux to talk, listing out pressure points he’s picked out of dossiers and their occasional mocking comm-chats. Figuring out the best questions to ask, the push and pull of it all. They’ll have to get him away from DJ first but Poe figures that won’t be all that hard to do no matter what the slicer says to the contrary.

He pulls out his datapad, only half listening to Finn and DJ bickering. He taps out a message to Rose: _burn the other ship. DJ’s coming with us. Let Leia know his prisoner is high level._ He thinks about telling her it’s Hux, just to give time for that to really sink in but he’s not sure he should chance it. These channels are supposedly secure but he doesn’t want to risk it.

He checks the bug is transmitting too, opens it up to find he has access to everything within the Finalizer. Tracking information, access codes, personnel files. If nothing else, they’ll be able to take out the General’s ship.

“Guys,” he says, plugging in the hyperspace coordinates for Jakku. “We can deal with this when we’re not within spitting distance of a ship full of people about to be very, very angry with us.”

“Right, on Jakku,” Finn mutters. “Where he can shoot us out in the open and bury our bodies where no one will ever find them. Why is it _always_ Jakku?”

DJ raises his eyebrows. “Your friend appears to have trust issues,” he says to Poe. “Your Resistance should maybe look in to getting some help with that. I know a guy.”

 “I wouldn’t have _trust issues_ if I didn’t have to be around such untrustworthy people,” Finn snaps and Poe sets a hand on his shoulder, squeezes lightly to steady him. Finn looks at him gratefully.

DJ has set a hand on his breast. “You think I’m _untrustworthy,_ ” he grins. “I have upheld my end of the deal. It’s you who is changing things.”

Finn grits his teeth and Poe readies to reign him in just in case but the moment is shattered by Hux stirring, making a slurred, sleepy noise. DJ drops to his side immediately. He doesn’t touch, doesn’t say anything, only crouches down to watch.

Finn takes the opportunity to grab Poe’s wrist and lean in close, hissing against Poe’s ear, “ _We’re not just going to let him waltz off into the sunset, right?_ ”

Poe shakes his head, mouths back, _Rose is taking care of it._

Finn nods, satisfied and pulls out his blaster, angles it towards DJ just in case.

On the floor, Hux twists groggily, brings up a hand to rub at his eyes, to push through his hair. “Where am I - ?” he mumbles and DJ shushes him, dropping one hand on Hux’s shoulder, the other to Hux’s wrist. He doesn’t hold it loosely, his grip is firm instead, like he’s expecting Hux to bolt. _Interesting._

“What - ?” Hux mumbles and DJ is bringing his wrist up, gently slipping his fingers into Hux’s sleeve and drawing out a dagger.

“I should probably hold on to this for the time being, darling,” he says in a low voice. “I know how temperamental you can be when you’ve just woken up.” He pats Hux’s hair absently, stays crouched beside him as Hux sputters.

Finn nudges Poe. “This is really weird,” he says, not bothering to keep his voice low.

“Oh, this is pretty much the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Poe says.

“I can make it weirder if you want,” DJ says, smirking over his shoulder at the two of them.

Poe shakes his head.

“No, thank you,” Finn says. “Really, we’re fine. Not that that stopped you before.” He sighs.

Poe’s datapad pings. A thumbs up from Rose.

Poe turns away from DJ and Hux, starts making them ready to drop out of hyperspace. He does a quick sweep of the radar and radio chatter before he does so. They’re in the clear so far. No angry First Order assholes waiting for them.

“Alright,” he says, dropping them above Jakku. “I’m bringing us into land at everybody’s favourite nowhere planet.”

“Fantastic,” DJ says and Poe hears him standing, twists back to watch him lift Hux onto his shoulders. He still seems mostly out of it, shifting weakly in DJ’s grasp, shaking his head, blinking hard.

“Don’t try anything,” Finn warns, raising his blaster.

DJ smiles. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

-

It’s easy enough to spot the ships as they enter the atmosphere, stark and bulky against the endless sand. He can make out Rose too as they get in closer, a small figure that raises a hand to wave as they come in to land. She moves off as Poe brings the shuttle in and it takes a moment for Poe to realise she’s angling to come round the back of the shuttle, surrounding DJ completely. Poe smiles.

DJ starts backing up as soon as the shuttle comes to a stop, hits the door release button on the side of the cargo bay as he goes. Finn climbs over his chair to follow, keeps his blaster trained on him.

“Well,” DJ says and Poe thinks he can detect the barest hint of uncertainty in his tone, thinks he can see a tiny tremor in his jaw. “I’m afraid this is where we must part ways, gentlemen. I do hope our little adventure has been as lucrative for you as it has for me.”

Rose appears behind him just as he’s stepping out onto the sands. He stops just short of backing straight into her. “Hi,” she says, brightly when he turns.

“Actually,” Poe says. “You and the General will be coming with us.”

DJ looks back to Poe, something like grim resignation in his eyes. “I must say, Commander, this isn’t very heroic of you.”

Poe shrugs, steps out of the shuttle and comes round to stand next in front of DJ. “I dunno. I’d say it’s pretty good business.” He un-holsters his blaster, shrugs. “You shouldn’t take it so personally.”

DJ’s smile is humourless. “Very clever.”

“Rose, which ship do you want us in?”

“The bigger one,” Rose answers. “The other one is rigged to explode in about ten minutes.”

Finn beams at her proudly.

“Nice,” Poe says. “DJ, if you’d – ” He starts but of course, Hux chooses that moment to lurch back to consciousness and twist out of DJ’s grasp. His legs are unsteady, he half-falls into the sand before he rights himself and stands swaying, looking between all of them. He’s still blinking hard, squinting in the brightness of the sun.

DJ is the first to recover, takes a step towards Hux with his hands raised, placating.

Hux jerks at the sudden movement, gaze snapping to DJ and when it lands on him his face contorts with fury, he grits his teeth. “ _You_ ,” he spits. “What the hell have you done? Where the hell have you taken me?”

DJ licks his lips. “Calm down. I told you: I am doing this for your own good.”

Hux seethes, makes a sound of wordless fury and DJ moves forwards again, another small step.

“ _Don’t touch me!_ ” Hux snaps. He tries to take a step backwards but his legs give out. DJ catches him before he crumples, moves forward in one fluid movement and raises a hypospray.

“Don’t you dare,” Hux is saying. “Don’t you _fucking_ dare.”

“Sorry, my love,” DJ says as he presses the needle to Hux’s neck. “But I really am doing what’s best for you.”

“ _No_.” Hux is still struggling weakly.

There’s a hiss as the needle is applied and he goes limp in DJ’s arms. DJ is still for a moment, waiting to be sure that Hux is out of it again before he presses a kiss to the top of Hux’s head, murmurs something to low for Poe to hear. Then he hoists Hux back into his arms, carrying him bridal style this time and turns back to Poe.

“Apologies, Commander,” he says. “You were saying?”

“Uh – ” Poe says, his mind still a few sentences back.

Finn recovers quickly though, waves his blaster meaningfully. “You’re coming with us,” he says, crisply. “Get onto the ship.”

Poe nods. “What he said.”

DJ sighs but he doesn’t protest, lets Finn march him towards the ship Rose picked out for them. Rose falls into step beside Poe as they follow. “Um,” she says. “Should we do something about that?”

Poe honestly has no idea.

“Probably?” he says and Rose seems to frown a little so he changes his mind. “Definitely.”

-

The ship is small, a cockpit, a small living space, nothing fancy. The only part that has a lock on it outside of the toilet is the small sleeping space but Poe decides he’d rather keep an eye on the both of them. Hux is already stirring as they cuff him to the low couch on one side of the ship.

“What kind of weak anaesthetic are you using?” Finn grumbles, shooting a glare at DJ.

They’ve cuffed him on the other side of the ship, to the table in the small eating area, after removing everything from his pockets of course. _You don’t even know what that **is**_ , DJ had complained as Poe pulled a small card from his pocket.

 _All the more reason to take it away from you,_ Finn had said.

Rose is in the cockpit, getting them off the ground.

“What?” DJ says, wide-eyed. “I didn’t want to risk hurting him.”

Finn looks at Poe.

Poe shrugs.

Hux laughs at that, weak and bitter, head lolling against the back of the couch.

There’s a jolt as they enter hyperspace and Rose comes out of the cockpit. “Okay, someone needs to fill me in here,” she says.

“DJ says Hux is his husband,” Finn starts with.

“He _is_ my husband,” DJ says.

Hux groans, snaps, “Just because you keep saying something doesn’t make it _true_.”

DJ looks at him. “You still have the ring I gave you,” he says, smugly.

Hux’s cheeks flush angrily, he tilts his head back, jaw tight.

“Okay,” Poe says. “Side-bar. I need all Resistance members to join me in the cockpit.”

-

“So what are we thinking?” he asks, when the doors shut firmly behind them.

“I’m thinking you should have just let me shoot him,” Finn says quietly, rubbing his jaw.

“I second that,” Rose says, nodding. “But since we don’t have a time machine I think we should probably separate them. We might get some straight answers.”

“Yeah,” Poe says, pointing at her. “I think that’s a good idea. We can move Hux into the bedroom and keep DJ out here. Rose, you can pilot this thing, right? Get a message to General Organa. Finn, of our two esteemed guests who do you want to shoot most?”

Finn shrugs. “Honestly, they’re about even right now.”

“Alright, I’ll take General Pasty-Face,” Poe decides. “Finn, please try not to shoot anyone.”

They step back out just in time to hear DJ huff, say, “You said you didn’t want to be there anymore, anyway! How was I supposed to take that?”

“I don’t _know_ ,” Hux snaps. “But my first thought certainly wouldn’t be _oh, let me disappear for two weeks and then drug, kidnap and hand him over to people who actively want to **kill** him._”

“You say that like actively wanting to kill you is a _bad thing,_ Hugs,” Poe says and Hux turns to scowl at him, cheeks a deep angry red. “He looks like he’s going to explode,” Poe says to DJ. “If we needle him anymore will he explode?”

DJ smirks, his eyes glittering with mirth. “I’m sure we’ll find out, Commander.”

Hux turns his glare back onto DJ, snarls like caged beast.

“This is still _really_ weird,” Finn hisses.

Poe agrees. Doesn’t think he’s ever really agreed with something so damn much. He pulls out his key to Hux’s cuffs, takes a few steps towards him.

“What are you doing?” DJ asks and his tone is completely changed. There’s no trace of lightness, no sarcastic drawl. His voice is low and dangerous. Out of the corner of his eye, Poe sees Finn’s hand go to his blaster.

“Hugs is going to be joining me in the bedroom,” Poe says, keeping his voice clear, steady. He doesn’t look back at DJ, Finn has his back and the man’s cuffed to a table. DJ doesn’t scare him.

“No, I don’t think so,” DJ says.

“It’s cute that you still think you’re in charge,” Poe says, uncuffing Hux and yanking him up. To his credit, Hux doesn’t look too concerned, he eyes Poe warily but he doesn’t struggle when Poe re-cuffs him and shoves him towards the sleeping quarters.

“Commander, if you touch him – ” DJ snarls but the end of his threat is cut off as Poe shuts the door behind them. He shoves Hux into the room, positions himself against the door.

“So, your husband seems pretty weird,” he says, enjoying Hux’s angry flush more than he probably should.

“He’s not my _husband_ ,” Hux snaps.

“So, you _don’t_ have a ring?” Poe asks.

“No, I – ”

“And he’s your _boyfriend_.”

Hux scowls at him, then sighs. “Actually, at the moment it appears he’s my kidnapper. My kidnapper who has just handed me over to my executioners.”

Poe hums. “Kind of puts a dampener on the relationship, huh? So can I ask about just _any_ of that?”

Hux glowers. “No.”

Poe shrugs. “Straight to business then.”

“If you think I’m telling you anything – ” Hux starts.

“Well, you husband said you were thinking of defecting.”

“He’s not my – ”

“Sorry,” Poe says. “Boyfriend. No – sorry, _kidnapper._ ”

By now Hux is approximately the same shade of red as his hair. It’s kind of fetching.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Hux asks.

Poe grins. “So much.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're going full trash fire friends, sorry i've left this fic hanging
> 
> tw for kind of voyeurism this chapter?

Hux falls silent after that, scowls up at Poe for a few moments before he sighs, lets his shoulders slump forwards and his head tip down. “I assume you’re intending on taking me back to your princess.”

Poe folds his arms and eyes Hux up and down. He’s never actually seen the man up close before, outside of a brief hazy moment when Ren had him prisoner, of course. It’s always been on holos so he has no way of telling if Hux always looks this pale, this drawn. With bags under his eyes and a slight tremor in his hands.

He looks kind of pathetic, really. Kind of scrawny, kind of fragile. General Armitage Hux of Starkiller base.

“Yep,” Poe answers. “I mean, depending on your boyfriend’s plans, of course.”

Hux doesn’t even bother correcting him this time, just closes his eyes, sits himself down on the bed. “Of _course,_ ” he mutters.

Poe frowns but figures he’ll log the resignation in Hux’s tone away with just about everything else that’s happened today. “So, defecting. You wanna expand on that or anything?”

Hux glares at him. “I’m _not_ defecting. I don’t care what that _psychopath_ out there says.”

Poe tilts his head, “So he’s a psychopath now, _not_ your boyfriend?”

“I _really_ hope he shoots you,” Hux says.

“Now, Hugs, that’s just mean. And anyway, since his main thing right now seems to involve drugging you and taking you places you don’t really want to go, do you really want to be left alone with him?”

He’s expecting Hux to just brush it off or snark right back but there’s a moment – a moment before the polite knock at the door that Poe should have probably been expecting – when Hux actually looks like he’s _considering_ that for a moment.

Of course, then there’s the knock at the door and DJ leans in with a blaster to Finn’s head and Rose cuffed and smiles. “Hello, Commander, I’ll be taking my General back now as well as your ship.”

Poe sighs. “Finn, that was like five minutes.”

Finn scowls at him. “Really, Poe? Really? _That_ ’ _s_ what you choose to focus on right now? Not the man with a gun pressed to my head?”

“I told you, my friend, your entire Resistance is in dire need of therapy,” DJ says. Then he turns his attention to Hux, “Did he hurt you?”

Hux’s jaw is tight. He shakes his head.

“Wonderful,” DJ beams. “In that respect, I suppose, you are a man of your word, Commander.”

-

“Don’t worry,” Rose says later, as they watch the ship vanish into hyperspace with a bright flash from the moon DJ marooned them on. “There’s a tracker in the ship, an audio transmitter too. They’ll probably dump it as soon as they can but I managed to slip a micro-tracker onto DJ before he cuffed me.”

She hands Poe a data-pad, the feeds already up. Finn beams and presses a kiss to her cheek, “You’re the _best._ ”

“You really are,” Poe agrees. “I’ll radio the base, get someone to pick us up. Then I guess we’re going after them.”

Over comms, Leia tells Poe to keep an eye on Hux and DJ but to get back to base before doing anything else. He’s been listening in on them since Rose handed him the datapad, earbuds in.

 _Are you sure you’re alright?_ DJ asks, a lot and his voice is softer, lower.

Hux responds with a variety of scoffs and sighs that get more and more irritated as time goes on until he snaps, _I was fine until you did **this.**_

And DJ snaps too. There’s the sound of someone moving, stomping across the ship, a muffled gasp. _Is **this** fine? _ DJ demands.

 _Get off me!_ Hux snarls. _Don’t touch me._

_He was going to kill you, Armitage and worse, he probably wouldn’t even have meant to. But you if you were so **fine** you can go back if you want. I won’t stop you. _

-

“He’s too valuable to let slip through our fingers,” Leia says, when they’re back at base. “Dameron, can I trust you to handle this? We don’t exactly have the resources to spare but – ”

“I can handle it, General,” Poe cuts her off. Leia eyes him up dubiously so Poe quickly adds, “If I need back up I can call for it. What’s our angle here?”

They’re in the war room, Leia has Hux’s file pulled up on the holo-display, his grainy face sneering out at them from a holo-still. Leia drums her fingers on the side of the projector. “Keep an eye on them for the meantime. Don’t take any unnecessary risks but if you see an opportunity to bring him in do it. As far as we can tell, the First Order are trying to keep General Hux’s disappearance under the radar so if we can snap him up quietly we might be able to use it to our advantage.”

“Got it,” Poe says. “Stealth mode. What should I do about DJ? He seemed pretty adamant we weren’t taking Hux anywhere without his say so.”

Leia frowns, looks to the holo-projector thoughtfully. “And how did Hux seem to feel about that?”

Poe thinks back to Hux’s interactions with DJ, to that brief moment of consideration he’d seen in the General’s eyes before DJ hijacked the ship. “I don’t know,” he says, after a moment. “I mean, he _had_ just been drugged and kidnapped but maybe DJ’s just the lesser of two evils for him.”

Leia hums. “I don’t think there’s a chance we can flip him,” she says, “But maybe we can hammer out a deal, provide him with a more appealing option.”

Poe can’t hold back his frown. “You’d make a deal with him?”

Leia shrugs, grimaces. “If it’ll help us win this war, yes.”

-

By the time Poe’s dismissed, Hux and DJ have dropped out of warp into the orbit of a small, outer rim planet popular with exiled imperials and smugglers. Poe keeps an eye on their little blinking dot as he grabs some stuff from his room and tracks down BB8. Leia’s given him permission to take the droid with him so he’ll at least have someone to keep him check and bounce ideas off of.

He listens in to the shuttle too, hopes his cheeks aren’t as visibly hot as he can feel them getting.

It had been quiet for a while, one or both of them sulking but then Hux had sighed, said, “Where even _are_ we, anyway?”

“Somewhere no one will look for you for a while,” DJ answers. Then he laughs, “Well, unless the Resistance have bugged this ship which let’s be honest, they probably have.”

Hux huffs. “And you’re so calm about this because…?”

DJ laughs again, “Oh, come on, Red. Do those nasty little rebels really frighten you? When I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you I meant it. Besides, I think Commander Dameron is rather dashing, don’t you?”

He must have moved, come to sit beside Hux or maybe they had always been close but there’s the sound of shifting and then something wet, something like a kiss.

“Get off,” Hux grumbles. “Didn’t I tell you I didn’t want you touching me?”

“Mm, yes, _mi amor,_ but you were angry then and you were letting it get the better of you. You’ve had some time to cool off now and it has been _such_ a long time.” There’s the sound of another kiss and then one more. “It took a while for me to plan this, Red. A while and a lot of work.”

Poe tries not to picture them as he dumps his stuff into a nondescript little ship but he can’t help it. Thinks of DJ with an arm slung lazily around Hux’s shoulders, breath hot in Hux’s ear while Hux sits stiff and awkward, hands curled into fists in his lap. Thinks of DJ sat behind Hux, Hux tipped back against his chest, DJ pressing kissing to Hux’s pale throat, Hux’s eyes fluttering.

It makes his skin crawl.

“I _hate_ you,” Hux says, emphatically.

DJ’s laugh is a low rumble this time, “I know you do, Red,” he says and the kissing starts up again, doesn’t stop this time.

Poe’s skin might be crawling, his stomach might be churning but he’s gotta admit, it’s kind of satisfying to hear General Hux of Starkiller base being taken apart, still it feels wrong to listen in on something so intimate so Poe turns the volume down low and pops one of his ear buds out. BB8 is apparently aware of what’s going on, either because they’ve hacked into the feed without being asked or because they’ve gotten disturbingly good at reading Poe’s body language.

 _Creep,_ they say and Poe half-laughs it off.

“I have to keep an eye on them, buddy,” he says. “You heard what General Organa said.”

The droid beeps, unamused and Poe fights to ignore the curl of warmth spreading steadily through his body because it’s been a while, okay? Between all the death and the battles there hasn’t been time for much more than a few quick fucks here and there in his X-wing or on shore leave and maybe there’s something in DJ’s bruised gaze and smooth voice and quick grin that has occupied Poe’s thoughts the past few times he’s lain down to sleep but he’s going to keep this professional.

Finn claps him on the shoulder before he leaves and leans in to say, “Please, just _shoot him._ ”

Rose hugs him, tells him to be careful.

As he takes off, Hux and DJ have quieted down.

“So what now?” Hux asks.

“We ditch the ship,” DJ says. “Lay low.”

“Better get a move on then,” Poe says, to BB8.

-

By the time they drop out of warp the transmitter is long silent and Poe tracks the ship to a berth outside a sprawling town filled with bars and clubs and cheap rooms and a booming black market. He docks in the harbour, waves some credits under the nose of the man who owns it in exchange for the vague direction the two men onboard the ship went in and their instructions to take the ship apart.

Poe thanks him, tells BB8 to stay with their ship until he calls and makes the short walk into town. He’ll have to move quickly if he wants a chance at finding them again. DJ’s micro-tracker is still transmitting but it’s only a matter of time before he finds it and that changes. Luckily, Poe’s been here a few times on shore-leave and before that, he knows how this place works, how to blend in here.

He tracks DJ to a dive bar that exists mostly as a front for the illegal gambling that takes place in the club below, the sort of thing that relies on beast fighting and drug money. He pauses outside to glance at his reflection in the window, musses up his hair some, practises his winning smile. A quick glance around inside tells him DJ’s not in the bar so he smooth talks the girl on the door into letting him down there without the password, makes it sound like he’s got a contact he’s meeting, credits to burn and not too much between his ears. The kind of mark that’d be easy pickings for the house.

He sends a message to BB8, relaying his location, asks the droid to see if they can use the signal from DJ’s tracker to mark out a path of all his movements planetside.

It’s easy enough to spot DJ amongst the crowds, leant over a table. Hux is nowhere to be seen however and Poe’s chest feels tight, he bites the inside of his cheek. DJ must have been playing the long con, must have lied about not having a buyer lined up for Hux. Or maybe not. Maybe Hux is just off in some dingy room, sleeping off the tranquilizers DJ kept jabbing him with. Or maybe they’ve parted ways. Maybe that was always the plan.

DJ spots him as he’s pushing through the crowd, doesn’t look surprised in the slightest. He smirks, makes his exit from the game, chips in hand and turns to stride towards the crowded bar. Poe follows him with difficulty. The place is packed, close, sweaty. Neon lights and thudding music in the air.

When he reaches the bar, DJ has a drink already waiting for him. “Commander,” he greets, keeping his voice low. “I was beginning to wonder if you were still stranded on that moon.”

“Or maybe I’ve just got better things to do than follow you across the galaxy,” Poe says.

DJ raises an eyebrow and nudges a glass of amber liquid closer towards him.

“No thanks,” Poe says, waving one of the bar staff over. “I’ve seen the way you treat your friends, I’m not drinking anything you’ve bought me.”

DJ makes an offended noise, clucks his tongue. “ _Commander_! Surely we have moved beyond that level of distrust now?” He shakes his head as Poe orders a whiskey, neat and knocks back the drink he’d ordered.

“So,” Poe says, when his drink is safely in hand. “Where is he?”

DJ tilts his head coyly. “Where is _who_ , Commander?”

Poe knocks back his drink. “You know who, DJ. Don’t play cute with me.”

“Who is _playing_ cute? Perhaps I merely _am_ cute.”

Poe snorts and shakes his head at DJ’s grin. “Look, cut the crap, this is serious,” he says. “I’m not playing your games.”

DJ sighs. “I suppose I should have known you were only ever using me to get to _him_.” And he does a good job of pretending to be put out by it all, shakes his head, heaves a sigh.

Poe scoffs, “And you _weren’t_?”

DJ grins again at that, bears his teeth, leans in close to hiss, “Do I detect a hint of _jealousy,_ Commander?”

Poe has withstood torture at the hands of Kylo Ren and the First Order, he’s not going to be goaded by this slicer. He turns his head, meets DJ’s gaze and keeps his tone steady as he says, “I think you might be projecting there.”

DJ tips his head back and laughs. “You’re fun. It would be a shame to have to kill you, Commander.”

Poe decides to play along a little, leans in closer too, keeps his eyes hooded. “And why would you have to do that?”

DJ looks up. He’s close enough that Poe can feel the warmth of his breath on his skin. “You know why,” he says, shifts his hand on the bar so that his fingers brush Poe’s. “Of course, I would rather _not_ have to kill you, Commander. So maybe I’ll give the opportunity to walk away. To tell your princess that you regrettably lost us and just leave well enough alone.”

Poe smiles. “You know I can’t do that.”

“A pity,” DJ says. His hand draws back quickly, slips into his pocket. Poe watches the movement carefully, one hand going to his holster. DJ draws something out and drops it into the dregs of Poe’s drink. The tracker. _Fuck._

He looks up in time to see DJ’s other hand come up with something crackling with electricity that he slams into Poe’s arm.

Poe seizes, everything goes black.

-

He wakes up being carried by someone. For a moment, his mind muddled, he finds it kind of nice, kind of comforting. The person is warm, their arms are steady.

Then he’s being dumped in the alleyway outside the bar and his eyes fly open just in time to twist himself around so he falls on his back, not his face. “Sorry, man,” the bouncer who carried him out says. “We don’t allow troublemakers in here.” Which is rich.

“But I wasn’t even the trouble _maker_ ,” Poe protests.

The man shrugs. “Takes two to trouble.” And he turns, locking the alley door behind him.

Poe scowls at the closed door and mutters, “That doesn’t even make sense.” He stands with some difficulty. Whatever DJ jabbed him with was not regulated by _any_ body Poe can think of. His limbs are still jittery, his nerves misfiring. He slides off his jacket to examine the singed patch of flesh where DJ hit him and winces.

“BB8?” he tries, shrugging his jacket back on. “You there?”

The droid beeps their affirmative and Poe breathes a sigh of relief. There’s that, at least.

“DJ made me. You manage to find anything on your end?”

BB8 whirs, says they’ll send the map over to Poe’s datapad.

“Wait,” Poe says, pats down his pockets, groans. Of course they’ve been picked clean. “My pads been stolen,” he grumbles. “I’ll be by the ship to pick up a spare.”

BB8 sighs. Or, makes the droid equivalent of a sigh, berates Poe as he starts walking. “I _was_ being careful,” Poe mutters. “ _No_ , I didn’t let any strangers buy me a drink.”


	5. Chapter 5

Poe’s mouth is all dry and metallic tasting and his nerves are still spasming, making his arms and legs jerk every now and again as he walks. He swears out loud each time it happens, thinks more and more that maybe Finn was right. They should have just shot him. Shot him when he turned up at their base. Shot him on Jakku. Shot him in that underground casino.

He’s almost back to the docks when he hears something that gives him pause.

It’s started to rain, not big heavy drops but that sort of persistent fine drizzle that soaks you through before you’ve even really noticed and leaves your teeth chattering. Poe’s turned the collar of his jacket up, is keeping close to the buildings he passes for the small shelter they offer. He’d make a run for it if he wasn’t so sure his legs would give out and he’d end up breaking his nose against the dirt tracks that serve as roads here.

He’s passing a cantina, two men are huddled around the side of it in an alleyway to smoke. It’s the sharp scent of the spice that turns his head at first, has him sizing them up out of habit. They are both wiry though the shorter of the two has the gaunt look of someone who was once much larger. Their dress is unremarkable, scruffy. The kind of thing Poe would expect from a place like this. The taller of the two wears no hood, his skin is pale, his hair an odd shade of yellowy-green as though it was once dyed blue but has long since faded.

“I’m _certain_ it were him,” the shorter one says and though he has the broad vowels and lilt of the area there is something odd about it, something that sounds almost forced. “And I’d know, wouldn’t I?” He drops his voice and leans in closer to his companion to say what he says next, his tone clipped and imperial. “Fucker screamed in my face enough times, didn’t he?”

“I dunno,” his friend says, leaning back uneasily. “Wouldn’t we know if he’d gone missing? I mean, he’s a pretty big deal, right?”

“Fuck knows,” says the first, shrugging. “They’re all cloak and dagger there anyway. Probably wouldn’t look to good if they’d misplaced General Starkiller. Just think, though. _Think_ what he’d fetch. There must be millions of New Republic arseholes who’d pay a planet’s worth of credits for that arrogant bastard.”

His friend rubs his jaw. “Won’t he be heavily guarded?”

“Not that I saw. Looks like it was just him and some other bloke.”

“Some other bloke?” his friend repeats.

The first man nods. “Dunno who he was but he didn’t look First Order. I reckon he’s defecting. Might mean we can sell him back to the Supreme Leader. Imagine that, Dol.”

Dol seems to consider this a moment. Then, at long last, he says, “And you saw where he was staying?”

“Yeah. Mada’s, out by the old port. Well, I think they’re staying there anyway. Only saw the one of them come back out. He headed off. Left the General all by his lonesome.”

“And how long ago was this?”

“Hour, maybe two? I dunno. I got a girl up there watching for me though. She’ll let me know if he goes anywhere.”

“If she don’t get distracted first,” Dol mutters. “Alright. What’s the plan?”

The first man slings an arm around Dol’s shoulders and starts guiding them back towards the cantina. Poe ducks out of sight, watches them go.

The way he sees it, he’s got two options. Option A is where he charges off in the direction of Mada’s, wherever that may be, hopes Hux is actually holed up there and that the two men don’t beat him to it. He’d also have to hope DJ wasn’t there when he turned up and that Hux didn’t just shoot him on sight.

In Option B though, he finds a way to contact DJ, gives him the heads up and makes some kind of deal with him. He’d need to actually _find_ a way of contacting him though and figure out a means of bargaining. He’d prefer that, though. Whatever it is that’s actually between Hux and DJ he has a feeling things will go a lot smoother if he can keep the both of them on side.

He slips into the cantina to keep an eye on the pair of conspirators and raises BB8 on the comms.

“Hey, buddy, DJ got along pretty well with you, right?” he asks.

 _He called me Roundy,_ BB8 says, which really doesn’t answer Poe’s question either way.

“He didn’t give you anyway of contacting him, did he? Maybe something secret, hidden in the files he gave you?”

BB8 hums thoughtfully.

“Could you check for me, buddy?”

BB8 beeps an affirmative and signs off.

Poe buys himself a drink and situates himself as close to the two conspirators as he can without arousing suspicion, making idle chit-chat with the vaguely pretty girl behind the bar. He watches as Dol’s friend talks to him in a low voice, nodding slowly and pausing to interject every few minutes. When Poe’s halfway through his drink, Dol stands up and leaves. From what he can gather, Dol’s been sent to gather some backup before they move on Hux.

His comm beeps a moment or so later and Poe answers, assuming it’s BB8. But he finds it’s DJ smooth voice that greets him.

“Hello, Commander, your droid was most insistent you needed to speak to me.”

“So, they could contact you this whole time?”

He can practically hear the smirk in DJ’s voice. “I told your droid not to contact me unless strictly necessary. I am a busy man, after all. So, if there’s nothing else – ”

Poe cuts him off. “There’s something else. I’ve got some news. Bad news.”

DJ sighs. “If you’re calling to tell me you’ve brought the entire Resistance to my doorstep I will remotely set your droid to self-detonate.”

“What? No, it’s not that. And you couldn’t do that anyway.” He thinks.

“Couldn’t I?”

“No,” Poe says, with a little more conviction this time. “Anyway, it’s not the Resistance but someone does know you’re here. By the looks of it, one of them is ex-First Order, thinks he can fetch a pretty price for your husband.”

DJ is quiet for a few moments. Assessing, Poe imagines. “Alright,” he says eventually. “Suppose for a second I believe you, Commander. Why are you telling me this? What are hoping to gain?”

“An opportunity,” Poe answers.

“An _opportunity_?”

“I’ll help you find the men who know you’re here if you let me speak to Hux.”

“And why should I not simply run?”

“Can you really afford to do that, though? I mean sure, right now it’s just some low lives but low lives talk. Let’s say you run but they get the word out. How long before it makes it to someone who could really make your life a misery? Some rich guy who had family in the Hosnian system, maybe. A bounty hunter. Kylo Ren. You might be good, DJ but there are definitely people out there who are better, who’ll find you. Who’ll find him.”

DJ’s laugh is flat. “Worried about me, Commander?”

“Not particularly. I’ll stay on your tail either way and who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky. And if these guys succeed maybe I’ll get to go home tonight. But I’ll be honest, I’d prefer not to do it that way.”

“And what way would that be?”

Poe sits back in his chair. He’s won. He knows it already. “Messy.”

This time DJ’s laugh is low and rich. “ _Yes_. I know how you Resistance types like to avoid _dirtying_ your hands.” He’s quiet again for a moment and then he sighs. “I assume you have eyes on the men in question.”

Poe beams. “I knew you’d come around. I’ve got one of them, yeah. The other’s gone for reinforcements. They’re supposed to meet up again when he’s done that.”

DJ sighs again. “And did you not consider the possibility that this second man means to double-cross the first and keep the spoils to himself?”

Which honestly, no, Poe hadn’t really but he’s not about to tell DJ that.

“Well there’s only one of me and unfortunately, you were _too busy_ to get back to me sooner, so.”

DJ snorts. “You know, Commander Dameron sometimes I find it difficult to know whether I’d like to kiss you or kill you.”

Poe ignores the slight warmth that spreads through him at that. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”

“I bet you do,” DJ says, then, “And where pray tell, are you?”

“Some cantina near the docks. I can send you the address.”

“And would this man recognise me if I arrived?”

“He might,” Poe says. “I dunno.”

“You are becoming less and less helpful by the second, Dameron,” DJ says but there is something fond in his tone that makes Poe want to smile, makes something in his stomach flutter. It’s pathetic. Makes his cheeks feel hot. It’s just been too long. That’s why he’s obsessing over this so much. It’s been too long and he’s fighting a war and generally doesn’t know what to do with himself.

“Send me the address,” DJ says. “I will come and meet you.”

“Wait. I’m not sending you the address until you agree to my terms.”

DJ huffs. “Until I agree to let you speak to Armitage, you mean. Well, I suppose you will just have to trust me in that respect, Commander.”

Poe chews on his bottom lip, considers this a moment. “Alright,” he says, eventually. “Fine.”

DJ breathes out. “ _Excellent_.”

-

DJ arrives surprisingly fast, fast enough that Poe wonders briefly whether all DJ’s been doing since their last encounter is following him around and making sure he leaves. He must come in a back way because Poe doesn’t notice him until he slings an arm about Poe’s shoulders, leans in close. “Now what is a nice little Resistance pilot like you doing in a place like this?”

Poe grins around the rim of his glass. “Well, I suppose that depends on how things go with my contact.”

“Ah,” he says, leaning back. “You are waiting for someone. How _disappointing_.”

“Doesn’t have to be if you make me a better offer.”

DJ laughs at that. “Don’t tempt me, Commander,” he says, with a small smile, waving the barkeep over to order himself a drink. “So, who is this man you are so worried about.”

“He’s at the table nearest the door,” Poe says. “Short, kind of emaciated.”

DJ steals a glance. “I see him. And his friend?”

“Taller, hair’s this washed out green colour.”

DJ nods, tapping his fingers on his glass thoughtfully.

“So, what’s the plan?” Poe asks, as the silence grows.

“When he leaves I’m going to follow him.”

“And me?”

“You are going to have your talk with Armitage and make sure he stays safe until I return.”

Poe almost chokes on the dregs of his drink. “I’m sorry, what? You’re just going to let me go see him _unaccompanied_?”

DJ looks faintly amused. “Did you think I was keeping him prisoner?”

 _Kind of,_ Poe thinks. “I have no idea,” Poe says. “Honestly I have no idea what’s going on between you.”

DJ smirks, downs the rest of his drink and pulls a small datapad out of his pocket. “You’ll need to provide me with a thumb-print. The lock on the door is biometric, you won’t be able to get in otherwise.” He doesn’t wait for Poe to offer his hand, just snatches the closest hand to him and extends Poe’s thumb to press down on the datapad.

“Hey,” Poe says.

DJ smiles again, looking down at the ‘pad as it works. “Just out of interest, what exactly are you planning on saying to him?”

“I’m gonna make him an offer,” Poe says.

DJ narrows his eyes. “An offer?”

“General Organa’s willing to cut a deal with him in exchange for information,” Poe explains. “I thought – ”

But DJ snorts, shakes his head. “And do you really think he’ll go for that?”

Poe shrugs. “I mean, I don’t think anyone would have thought he’d go for _you_ and yet.”

The ‘pad dings and DJ slides it back into his pocket before leaning in close once more. “Really, Commander? You can’t think of one reason why he might be interested in someone like me?” His mouth is very close to Poe’s ear, his breath warm against his skin. Beneath the bar, DJ slots one of his knees between Poe’s. He’s not brushing up against anything that matters but Poe still shudders, can’t stop himself.

“Yeah,” he says, trying his best to keep his voice steady. “All I’m saying is he’s got piss poor taste in men.”

DJ grins and doesn’t remove his knee. “Well on that account we can both agree. It seems, though, that you, Commander Dameron, may have the same problem.” He leans in closer to say that, his lips brushing the shell of Poe’s ear and Poe squeezes his eyes shut, takes a deep breath.

He has a job to do here. A job.

When he opens his eyes, DJ leans back and laughs. “Don’t worry, Commander. I’m only teasing. Anyway, you should probably be on your way. I’ll send the address to your comlink.”

“Yep,” Poe says, standing up so quick he almost stumbles.

DJ’s laugh follows him out.

-

It’s a twenty minute walk to the Mada and by now the rain has gotten heavier, even with his jacket Poe’s soaked through. He nods vaguely to the blue skinned alien on the front desk and heads up to the third floor. DJ’s room is at the end of the corridor. Poe stands outside for a few minutes, wondering if he should knock first.

In the end, he doesn’t. Figures Hux will assume anyone with the keypass must be DJ and will thus be less likely to shoot him. Still, he draws out his blaster as he presses his thumb to the keypad just in case. The pad blinks green and the door gives way when Poe pushes it. He closes his eyes for a moment, shoots off a brief prayer to any and all deities that might be listening.

The room on the other side of the door is quiet, dimly lit. The only sound comes from the rain hammering against the windows. It’s small, occupied mostly by a bed with a door leading off into what Poe assumes is a bathroom.

Hux is on the bed and props himself up on his elbows when Poe comes in. His hair has come loose completely from his pomade and falls across his forehead. He still looks pale, slightly bleary-eyed and unsteady. When his gaze lands on Poe his reaction is slightly underwhelming.

He doesn’t immediately reach for his blaster or even look particularly angry. All he does do is fall back against the mattress with an annoyed huff. “Did he send you or have you at some point become competent?”

“Uh,” Poe says, easing the door shut behind him. “Sorry, who was it who blew up Starkiller and led the Resistance to safety on Crait?”

Hux props himself back up. “I have no idea. You all kind of blur into one for me after the princess, if I’m honest. Sorry.”

Poe snorts. “Bullshit, Hugs. You know _exactly_ who I am.”

Hux hums. “Keep telling yourself that if that’s how you get through the day.” He lets himself fall back again, this time with a soft groan of exhaustion. “So where is he this time?” he asks, as Poe steps further into the room and settles himself on a ratty looking armchair.

“Some guys know you’re here. They want to sell you.”

Hux laughs bitterly. “He owes me a thousand credits then. He thought it’d take at least a week for someone to find me.”

Poe frowns. “Why?”

“Well, as you may have noticed he’s a little enamoured with himself. That unfortunately extends to his own abilities. Anyway, you ever answered my first question: did he send you or did you find me?”

“He sent me,” Poe says, slipping his blaster back into its holster. “He wants me to keep an eye on you.”

Hux makes a faint noise of disgust. “Why? It’s not as if I can’t defend myself.”

Poe raises an eyebrow. “That’s really not how it looks from here.”

Hux rolls onto his side to scowl at him. “I don’t need to be able to sit up to aim a blaster.”

“I mean, I suppose _technically_ no, but it would help.”

Hux glowers at him for a moment more before rolling back over. “He probably sent you here to keep you out of the way. Don’t flatter yourself, Dameron.”

“I thought you didn’t know who I was?”

Hux sighs. “You’re _unbearable_.”

“And _you_ are just a barrel of sunshine.” Poe counters and he stands. “I’m gonna use one of your towels, okay. If you, uh, have towels.”

Hux sighs again, this time with his whole body but he doesn’t say no so Poe makes his way across the room to the bathroom door. The illuminator comes on automatically when he pulls the door open and Hux hisses at the sudden burst of bright light. Poe turns to find he’s rolled onto his other side. “Sorry,” he says.

“Don’t apologise, Dameron,” Hux snaps. “Just get on with it.”

Poe takes his time, watches Hux seethe as he leans in and slowly selects a towel, stands in the small tiled room to dry his hair off and sets it back carefully on the rail. When he steps back out, Hux is glaring at him. “If I could stand right now I would strangle you,” he says.

Poe smiles. “With those scrawny little arms? Please.”

Hux rolls back over in disgust. As he does so, Poe catches sight of a smattering of dark bruises running down Hux’s pale throat. He swallows hard, thinking helplessly of the shuttle.

 _Wait,_ Hux had said. _Wait, wait._

And DJ had let out a low rumble. _Why? There is no one around to see them anymore and you enjoy this, don’t tell me you don’t._

 _But –_ Hux had broken off with a groan, a sharp intake of breath. _Oh, **fuck,**_ he’d hissed and his voice had been shaking.

Poe shuts the bathroom door tightly, extremely grateful for the darkness that rushes back in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really love writing these two idiots

**Author's Note:**

> i don't really know what i'm gonna do with our boy poe romantic-wise yet but i'm super tempted to throw him in with hux and dj because what a trash fire


End file.
